


Professionalism (and the fortunate lack thereof)

by prototyping



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Christmas Fluff, F/M, Fluff, Hallmark movie fluff, Pre-Relationship, Prompt Fic, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-25
Updated: 2020-12-25
Packaged: 2021-03-11 01:55:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28317096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/prototyping/pseuds/prototyping
Summary: “That’s a relief.”“Which part?”“All of it. But I’m glad you don’t seem offended by the thought of me... flirting with you.”Byleth’s eyebrows rose, the twitch of her mouth telling him she wasn’t being serious when she asked, “Should I be?”[Written for day 6 of DimitriWeek2020, “Secret Santa/mistletoe.”]
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/My Unit | Byleth
Comments: 15
Kudos: 105





	Professionalism (and the fortunate lack thereof)

“That was a nice gift.”

Byleth watched the way he stiffened in surprise, how he turned around with an innocent smile that wasn’t the least bit convincing.

“Pardon?” Dimitri’s breath fogged as it left his mouth, but he showed no signs of discomfort in the frosty air. In contrast, Byleth pulled her coat tighter around herself as she shuffled out onto the balcony.

“I recognize pricey brands when I see them… although I can only guess how much imported tea in packaging that fancy might run.”

Dimitri shrugged. “I’m sure whoever gave it to you is confident you’re worth the expense.”

Byleth arched an eyebrow as she drew even with him, smiling thoughtfully. He was getting bolder lately, or perhaps that wasn’t cider in his glass like she’d thought.

When she went on holding his gaze without comment, he finally chuckled and glanced away. “You’ve worked hard, Byleth. I’m grateful to have you here. More than I can express with a simple Christmas gift, although I hope it’s a start.”

“You’ve said it often enough that I believe it,” she assured him. “But… the gift is a very nice gesture. Thank you.”

He looked as though he were trying not to appear too pleased with himself, but his wide smile was telling. A part of her wondered whether it was coincidence that he’d drawn her name for the gift exchange, or if he’d pulled some strings with his position.

“Good. Great—I’m glad,” he stammered. “You deserve it, I mean. For your hard work.”

Maybe it was the bit of wine she’d had herself just a little bit ago—or, more likely, it was the months of noticing his glances and reading into his remarks, or her own blossoming fondness for and attraction towards him despite that slippery slope of _He’s the boss_ —but as she leaned back against the snow-covered railing and looked up at him, she wondered,

“Is that all it is?”

Rather than the embarrassment she expected, Dimitri grew serious as he met her gaze again. She rarely saw an expression that intense on his face and it made her heart skip a beat to have it fixed on _her_.

“Byleth—”

The sound of his phone cut him off. He tugged what she recognized as his work-only cell out of his pocket with an annoyed glance. He did a double take at the screen and then shot Byleth an apologetic look.

She smiled sympathetically. “Better take that. You do put food on my table, so I guess I’ll let you slide.”

He looked relieved. “Thanks. And, sorry.”

Byleth headed back inside to give him some privacy. At least the normally plain, drab office was more appealing to look at now, with HR having been generous in its holiday decorations, and she liked her coworkers at this place well enough that there was no one she tried to avoid. When Mercedes cheerfully waved her over to join her and a few others in their circle of conversation, Byleth took her up on it with a smile. Even as she listened to her coworkers chatter on for the next hour, part of her still lingered out on the cold balcony with Dimitri, hoping he wouldn’t be too long.

* * *

She didn’t see him again before the party ended a couple hours later. She lingered in the lobby as everyone continued to trickle out the front door, but he still didn’t show. Checking her watch, she started to wonder if he’d slipped out while she wasn’t looking.

Unlikely. At the very least he would have dropped a quick, passing goodbye, although it was more like him to apologize to everyone for having to cut and run.

Byleth entered the nearest elevator and hit the button for the top floor.

Dimitri was, unsurprisingly, in his office. He was engrossed at his mess of a desk, laptop balanced on his knees as he scribbled in a notebook to the side. It was warm in here and he had hung his blazer over the back of his chair. For a moment Byleth lingered in the doorway, admiring the rare sight of his forearms below the rolled-up sleeves of his thin shirt.

Then she cleared her throat.

“Maybe I should return the gift. You’re definitely working harder than me.”

He glanced up, surprised. “Ah. Have I been gone that long?”

“The party just ended, Dimitri.”

He blinked at her, and then stared at the time on his computer. “...Oh.”

She approached with an easy smile. “You didn’t miss much.”

“Still—I’m sorry. I didn’t realize it’d gotten so late.” He ran a hand over his face. “Well, thanks for letting me know. You should head home before the roads freeze.”

“Will you be much longer?”

“A little while,” he answered vaguely. “I’ll close up. No need to wait.”

Byleth knew better than to suggest he just leave the work for another day, holiday or not. Instead, she ventured, “Anything I can help with?”

Dimitri frowned uncertainly. “Well—you really don’t have to. It’s late, and—”

“—two people will finish in half the time, so you can go home sooner.” She stopped near his desk, looking over it scrupulously. “What can I do?”

He regarded her for a moment, still unsure, and then finally chuckled in defeat. “Alright. I appreciate it. If you could start with scanning these into my files on the shared drive, that would be a big help.” Byleth accepted the stack of papers and promptly turned on her heel, stopping only to shed her bags and coat before continuing on to the copier down the hall.

It was mostly menial work, a lot of copy-pasting and transcribing and a few paper trails that kept them busy for the next hour. Dimitri wouldn’t normally have been saddled with something like this during working hours, but he wasn’t the type to dodge busywork just because he could, nor call in staff last-minute during a holiday break. It had made more sense to him to simply take care of it while he was on-site, as if he were any other employee in the building and no one special.

His humility was another thing Byleth admired about him.

When he failed to stifle his third yawn in twenty minutes, she offered, “How about we break into that tea? Blueberry merlot is sounding pretty good right about now.”

Dimitri agreed, and then insisted on making the tea himself once she’d opened the box. He returned minutes later and they both sat on his small couch, sipping their drinks in a brief silence.

“You mentioned you had family locally,” he said. “Does that mean you aren’t traveling for the holidays?”

“Right. It’s just me and my dad, so I’ll go over to his place and we’ll cook Christmas dinner there. It’s kind of our unofficial tradition, in a way.”

“That sounds wonderful.” Dimitri’s smile was too warm and his voice too genuine for the remark to be empty smalltalk.

After digging in her memory for any mention of his family, and failing to find anything, Byleth asked, “What about you?”

He swirled his mug absently. “I’m not traveling, either. I’m not particularly close to any of my remaining relatives.”

“Oh. I’m sorry.”

He was quick to shake his head with another smile. “It’s fine. My friends and I go out for drinks the weekend before Christmas, so that’s become a tradition for us. I don’t exactly envy the airport crowds, you know?”

He appeared genuinely unfazed and she couldn’t help believing him. Even so, she recalled someone mentioning that his birthday was towards the end of the month, too, and that made his lack of close family even more unfortunate in her mind. It was hard picturing someone so outgoing and warm at home alone for the holidays—although he’d mentioned he had a dog, so there was that. Just him and his dog, in his big house alone at the end of the year.

Or maybe he had some sort of fling in mind, but judging by how slow he’d been to act on his clear interest in Byleth, she doubted it.

“Well, if Christmas rolls around and you’re bored enough, you’re always welcome to come dine with the two of us.” She shrugged. “Dad wouldn't say it, but he’d like the extra company.”

Dimitri stared at her. “That’s—very nice of you, but I couldn’t ask to impose…”

“You’re not asking. I’m inviting.” She flashed him another smile. “But don’t think of it as an invitation, just a suggestion—that way you don’t have to feel bad for not showing if you don’t want to.”

“I… I see.” Something flickered across his face—something new that she hadn’t seen before, that she instantly decided she liked and wanted to see more of. “I’ll give it some thought. Thank you for the—suggestion.”

“And if you’re worried about imposing, just bring a fruitcake and we’ll call it even.”

“Do you really eat those?”

“No. So please don’t actually bring one.”

He laughed—an actual laugh, not just the usual low chuckle she was used to hearing him use around the office. She decided she liked that, too.

“Perhaps some wine, then,” he offered.

“Dad likes you already.”

His smile lingered even as he looked away and she wondered whether he would actually come. She was willing to bet he would. She _hoped_ he would. Maybe she would send him a text in a few days, casually emphasizing that she’d meant what she said.

“How’s the tea?” Dimitri asked after a moment.

“Amazing, thank you.” She set her elbow atop her crossed knees and toasted him with her mug. “I’ll think of you every time I have some.”

“So… it was that obvious that it came from me, was it?”

Byleth tilted her head. “I just noticed you paid more attention when it was my turn. Could’ve sworn I saw you sigh in relief when I said I liked it.”

“You have quite the eye for detail,” he mused, “even when you aren’t working.”

“I like to think so.” She didn’t add that he was the only coworker she could imagine splurging so generously on an anonymous gift—but she did let her gaze linger on his face pointedly, indicatively.

He noticed and glanced aside. “If I’ve come off… unprofessional in any way, I hope you feel free to say so. With this, or… at all.”

“You haven’t,” she assured him.

Honestly, that was the _problem_.

“You’re…” She took a moment to choose her words. “Authoritative, but respectful. Confident but approachable. Dependable and kind. Reasonable and forgiving—but more towards others than yourself. Not demanding or patronizing, so… no, definitely not unprofessional.”

Dimitri had watched her while she spoke, but now he glanced away again with a smile that looked… embarrassed.

“That’s the most honest anyone’s been about my work ethic,” he chuckled. “I’m… glad to hear that from you. I don’t doubt that you’re giving your honest opinion.”

“I’m not the only one who thinks so.”

“Maybe not.”

“Definitely not.” Byleth smiled as they traded glances. “But I wasn’t just talking about your work ethic. I haven’t seen you outside the office that much, but I think that’s probably how you are all the time.”

“That’s more than I can say about my assessment of you, honestly.” He studied her thoughtfully. “I feel confident that I know your strengths and your talents, and where you’re comfortable and best put to use on a team, but…” Dimitri shook his head lightly, distractedly. “It’s hard for me to picture you outside of here. What your hobbies are, what your friends are like… even where you do your grocery shopping, or whether you’re a dog or cat person.”

She hummed quietly, glancing down at her hands. “It’s not just you. People always say that I can be…”

“Enigmatic?” he proposed when she hesitated. Her smile widened. That was a rather romantic way of putting it.

“Distant.”

“Ah.”

“The opposite of you, really,” she added. “You’re open with people. Despite your position, it doesn’t feel fake. And I’ve seen fake.”

He shrugged, looking sheepish. “It probably goes to show how little of a filter I have.”

“I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. I like having you as a boss, for what it’s worth.”

“It’s worth a lot.” His reply came so quickly that it sounded impulsive. Judging by the look on his face, he probably hadn’t meant to say it out loud. He smothered it with another embarrassed smile. “Sorry. That came a little too close to teasing you.”

Byleth studied the bottom of her empty cup. “I don’t think that’s a bad thing, either,” she said coolly, quietly. She felt his eyes on her even before she looked up. “So—teasing is how you flirt, huh?”

His broad shoulders stiffened and he made a sound that might have been a laugh or a cough or both. “Flirt?” When Byleth didn’t answer and let him flounder in silence for a moment, he asked slowly, “Does that fit your assessment of me?”

“No,” she admitted. “I thought you’d be more… old-fashioned, I guess. Proper. The kind to… give very nice gifts to get his point across. But,” she added, seeing him about to speak, “not so nice that it’s _too_ obvious, or that you might make the recipient feel obligated in any way.”

Something like jewelry would have been in bad taste, given what they were (and weren’t). The tea was simply a wealthy man trying to match her personal tastes, nothing more than that if she didn’t want it to be.

“That’s a relief.”

“Which part?”

“All of it. But I’m glad you don’t seem offended by the thought of me... flirting with you.”

Byleth’s eyebrows rose, the twitch of her mouth telling him she wasn’t being serious when she asked, “Should I be?”

He cracked a small grin. “It sounds like you’ve got me figured out well enough to answer that yourself.”

Smart response. “And if I’m not offended?” she wondered. “Can I expect more teasing?”

“That would definitely be unprofessional. Don’t you think?”

“Only if it’s at the office.”

That obvious opening hung in the air for a few seconds. Judging by the way Dimitri studied her, he was debating whether or not to take it.

“Then… would you like to get together outside the office? Sometime?”

His tone was casual, but she noticed that he’d gone very still as he watched her for an answer. That intensity was back in his gaze.

And then the tension melted out of him as Byleth smiled.

“Yeah. I’d like that a lot.”

* * *

He offered to drive her home, but with fresh snow falling, the temperature already well below freezing, and her apartment a half hour out of his way, Byleth gratefully declined. She did take him up on his offer to wait with her for the taxi, so the two of them stood under the cover of a bus stop as the minutes ticked by.

“I hope the party was bearable,” Dimitri said with a crooked smile. “I’m glad you came, but I hope you know that it really was optional.”

She shrugged. “I didn’t mind. I might’ve skipped out if it was any other job I’ve worked, but everyone here is…” She searched for words. “...interesting to be around. Most are even nice.”

He chuckled. “I make a point not to say anything ridiculous like ‘the company is family’—”

_Thank the Goddess_. He really was more down-to-earth than most people in his position.

“—but some of us have known each other for a long time, and circumstances brought us together here in one way or another. But knowing you, you might have picked up on that already.”

“I wondered,” she confessed with a nod. “Sylvain and Ingrid argue like old friends. Felix is hard to pinpoint, but he talks about you like they do—sort of. In his own way. And Annette mentioned that she met you when you were kids.”

“Most of your department is like that, honestly. I think they’re all professional, but I was worried you’d feel like an outsider when you came in.”

“I did a little, but that’s unavoidable. They’ve all been easy to work with, so I haven’t had any problems.” At his sidelong look, she smiled. “Even Sylvain and Felix,” she assured him.

“That’s a relief. A surprise, but a relief.”

“Speaking of Sylvain,” she said after a moment, pulling her phone from her pocket, “he mentioned that HR banned mistletoe from the Christmas party.”

Dimitri gave a dry laugh that sounded strained. “He would know. But yes, they did.”

“I can see how that falls under unprofessional… if it’s at the office,” she added. She caught his eye and could tell he wasn’t sure how to take that.

Turning on her heel to face him, Byleth stood on her toes and stretched her arm as far up as it could reach. Dimitri glanced up at the phone in her hand and his puzzled look gave way to a warm, self-conscious laugh. “I guess it’s a good thing we’re only in front of it.”

He pulled his eyes away from the mistletoe picture displayed on her screen—not the prettiest image, but the best she could find in her hasty Google search—to find her smiling up at him. “But you’re the boss,” she pointed out, tilting her head. “So if you think this violates some—”

“No,” he said quickly, gently. “Not at all.” He held her gaze for a brief, searching moment before letting his eyes fall to her mouth. Byleth was almost certain she would have to move first, so she was pleasantly surprised to be proven wrong.

He was warm despite the cold. The simple, soft kiss sent a jolt of feeling into her freezing lips, warmth sliding down her spine to settle comfortably in her chest. The impulse was there to slide her arms around his neck, to absorb the faint smell of his cologne into her clothes and determine whether his body would feel as firm against hers as she imagined—but a quick honk announced the taxi’s arrival, which they had both missed in their distraction. The two of them quickly parted with small grins and Dimitri clearing his throat.

“Noon tomorrow?”

“Noon tomorrow.”

He stepped forward and opened the car door for her. She flashed him one last smile as she passed, close enough to feel his breath on her cheek as he spoke. It was as warm as the rest of him, but it sent a small shiver down her back that had nothing to do with the winter chill.

“Goodnight, Byleth.”


End file.
